The Best of Fools (Jane Austen Book 2) (5 page)

"I love you," I whispered.

"Oh, honey," she whispered back. "I'm so proud of you."

Mom and Dad cut in and gave me warm hugs too, then went back to holding hands and staring into each other's eyes. They seriously reminded me of a couple in their early puppy love days. How could I ever compare with that?

Mom never told me I needed to find what they had. And as much as she loved everything about love, she never pressured me.

But the name. The name pressured me enough. I don't even know why. It was just a name.

Eddie gave me an awkward pat on the back and said, "Good job, sis."

I forced him into a hug and kissed his cheek. "Thanks, bro."

He wiped his face and darted his eyes around, probably making sure no one saw him get kissed by his big sister. Eddie was undoubtedly the shyest person I had ever known. Getting a word out of him or some kind of expression of life was an extremely difficult task. He tried, but he'd fumble over words until his eventual moment of defeat where he'd stare at his shoes, chew the inside of his cheek, and kick the ground.

Kinda like now.

"Ready to go home?" Dad said. "We have a surprise for you."

I looked around the school hallway one last time. So many memories. First day of school. First kiss in the stairwell by the left wing. First detention for passing a note to Autumn after being reprimanded three times. Or maybe it was because she forgot to study and the note had all of the answers to our quiz. Lots of firsts. Lots of lasts. These halls would one day be a distant memory and although I thought I was elated to strut outta that place, it left a bittersweet taste in my mouth.

I followed my family out to the parking lot and piled into the backseat of the car. Eddie and Mom sat beside me. Granny sat up front with Dad. Lots of small talk until we pulled up at home and went inside. Knowing Mom, I expected streamers and cake and food. So I was pretty surprised to find the house just as it was when we left.

"Take a seat on the couch," Dad said. "I'll be right back."

Granny sat beside me and held my hand. Eddie stared at his phone while reclining on the other couch.

Mom stood next to me. "We didn't make a big deal out of this with a party and everything because we know how much you don't like all the attention, but we have something for you."

Dad came back into the room with an envelope and a smile. He handed it to me and everyone watched as I peeled back the flap and slipped my hand inside. I pulled out a card. A handmade card. Mom's handwriting on the front said:
Because we love you.

I opened it up and read:

More than you know. We saved this money since you were a baby. Buy a new car, an apartment, a college tuition, or save it! It's up to you to use it however you see fit as you embark on the next chapter of your life.

We love you,

Mom & Dad

I turned the check over and gasped, nearly falling out of my seat. Everyone smiled when I looked at them, except Eddie who was completely oblivious.

"I can't take this much," I said, still in shock. "It's too much. Don't you guys need it?"

Dad laughed. "It's yours, sweetheart. We saved a little with each paycheck for you and your brother. Ninety dollars a month for eighteen years is two-hundred and sixteen months of saving. We wanted you to choose what you'd like to do with the next few years of your life and to have the money to begin on the right foot. Now it's up to you to plan the next steps."

"Or I could blow it all on clothes."

"Oh, Jane," Mom said as though she believed me.

"I'm kidding." I stood and hugged them both. "I have no idea what to say. I'm still in shock."

Dad chuckled. "Now, no special party here today, but we have dinner planned. Do you want to invite Autumn or Donovan over?"

"I would, but they're busy."

They walked away smiling at each other while Granny watched me stare at the check on my lap. A million possibilities ran through my mind. I still couldn't believe it.

$20,520.

WHAT?!

I took a picture of the hefty check with
my
name on it and texted it to Donovan.

Five minutes later he sent me this:

??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

I texted:
Still. Taking. Deep. Breaths.

Him:
Bahamas!!!!

Me:
Call me tonight.

Him:
K.

Ten seconds later: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The check successfully went into my meager bank account. I had only worked Saturday's at Jump In Swim School for the last two years, making a modest $205 a month after taxes. So, as you can imagine, my bank account had never been so happy. Every twenty minutes I'd pull up my banking app, login to my account, and stare ... just sit there and stare at the number on the screen.

I had saved up a little over the last few years, but not enough to do much of anything. Now the possibilities were most definitely endless. Endless, I say!

But endless as they were I knew what I wanted to do with it. College wasn't really my thing, didn't care for a new car since mine got me from point A to point B without issues, and although traveling sounded fun it wasn't as appealing to me as starting my own fashion design business or clothing line.

I had been sewing since I was seven. Mom taught me as part of my proper Jane Austen life skill sessions, but she never imagined how far I'd run with it. I got by for the last ten years on a dinky cheap Shark machine, but I really wanted a nice Brother. Maybe even an antique Singer for kicks.

I couldn't wait to get the business going and surprise everyone. First step, Internet search galore.

I spent an entire two days looking up how to establish a legit business, plus any tips I could find on fashion design. By the end of my research spree I had mailed in a sole proprietorship registration form and a fictitious name form. My new clothing line would be called Adrian Elyse. Adrian based off of my favorite non-Batman movie,
Rocky
, and Elyse for no reason. Just looked and felt good after Adrian.

It was really happening.

Next step, Mom would not appreciate, but probably saw coming.

Autumn came over to help. She drove while I navigated. We pulled up in front of the building and I could already tell that I wanted it.

"You sure you can do this?" Autumn said. "I know that's a lot of money, but not that much. What if you rent this and realize it's too much? What if the business doesn't take off?"

"A girl after my own heart." I laughed and pat her knee. "You know I've already thought about every single question imaginable."

"And?"

"And I'm renting. Worst thing that could happen is I have to move back out, but come on, have a little more faith in me than that. Plus, if you decide not to go away to college you could always rent with me."

"Unlike you, I don't have a various assortment of creative talents to pursue. College it is!"

"You have plenty of talents." I opened the door when the landlord showed up in front of the building with a folder tucked under his arm. "Let's go."

Autumn and I greeted Jerry and he allowed us to go inside.

"The first floor was used as a pet grooming spa for a few years, but they moved to a different part of the city last month." Jerry walked toward the center of the room. "You said you were starting a clothing line?"

I nodded.

"Impressive for a girl your age." He gestured toward the front desk. "If you want, you could get rid of this desk here. We just need to talk through logistics and any improvements made to the building will be paid by you, but I will reimburse them by crediting your rent."

I looked around the room. Light wood floors. Glossy. Beautiful. Sleek. I could easily see the room as a gorgeous boutique filled with my custom clothes and the excitement made my heart flutter like crazy. Kinda like it did when Alistair's arm touched mine. I pictured him on the sidewalk, giving me those eyes.

Autumn snapped in front of my face. "Come back to reality," she said, drawing out her words to emphasize my spaced outness.

"Sorry," I said. "Could I see upstairs, please?"

He led us up the stairs to a modern-looking loft apartment. I gasped. So did Autumn.

"This is amazing," I said, taking in the light that poured in through the windows. "I didn't expect it to be so modern in such an old building." I walked to the back windows. "These windows are incredible."

At the back of the building the windows covered the entire wall and faced west, so the sunset would paint my room at night. Right now sunshine beamed through and lit the entire room. Light wood floors. Clean, modern kitchen with new stainless steel appliances. I walked up the cute little stairs to the bedroom area that sat above everything and realized it extended back further than I thought, even had a second room that could be used as a spare bedroom if anyone wanted to room with me. It felt more like an exposed attic than a one-bedroom loft.

"I absolutely love this," I called down to Jerry. "Let me guess, it's out of my budget."

He cleared his throat. "What's your budget?"

I thought for a second. Did a quick calculation of everything I needed to buy and yeah, Autumn was right, I probably wouldn't have enough, but I was determined to try.

"A thousand a month?" I should've said it without the question mark.

He nodded. "Well, you know this is a prominent and popular part of the city and includes the storefront downstairs."

"You're saying it costs more than a thousand."

"I've been renting it out for three thousand, but I would be willing to allow you to stay for the first six months at fifteen hundred, then if all goes well and your business improves we can move up to the full price."

"And what if it doesn't improve?" I said. "Six months isn't a lot of time."

"We can talk about it then." He rummaged through some papers in his folder and handed them to me. "If you're interested we'll need to do a credit check and have you fill out this paperwork."

I nodded. "My credit is perfect. Have barely done much with it yet."

"Okay." He handed me a few more papers. "That should be all you need. Would you like to take the next step?"

Autumn stood behind him and waved her hands like a referee while she mouthed, "Don't do it."

"Yes." I flipped through the papers. "I would love that."

He went over a few details as I glanced around the room, imagining my own furniture and art on the walls. My own place. My own store.

Really?

Donovan texted me:
Hey, let me know when you're free. We need to talk.

Me:
Yes. We. Do!

Donovan:
No... I mean... we need to talk.

Me:
Tonight? Our spot?

Donovan:
5pm.

Me:
K.

I took one last look around the loft, inhaled the clean, fresh paint smell, then followed Jerry and Autumn downstairs. Soon this would be my home. In the city. Alone.

Maybe it wasn't such a good idea. "So," I said. "I can think this over a few days if I want and get this paperwork back to you when I'm ready?"

"Sure," he said. "I do have quite a few people coming to look at it today, so I can't guarantee that'll still be here, but you're more than willing to think it over and see."

Hm. I didn't like the idea of losing out on the opportunity of a lifetime. "Can I fill the paperwork out right now?"

He laughed. "I'm not allowing anyone to do it right here, so go ahead and take your time."

"What's the deposit?"

"One month of rent, plus your first month of rent is also due upfront."

"So ... three thousand?"

He nodded.

I reached into my bag and grabbed my check book, wrote out a check for three thousand buckareenos—which I never in a million years thought I'd ever do—and handed it to him. "Just in case. I don't want to miss it if I want it."

"Okay, I'll hold on to this and rip it up if it doesn't work out."

I smiled. "Thank you. Thank you so, so much."

With one last pivot, I was on the floor staring at Autumn's shoe and ... thinking of Alistair.

His face was fading in my memory now and it had only been weeks. I should've taken a picture. Why didn't I take a picture?

Wait a minute. Why did I care?

"Jane." Autumn tugged on my shirt. "Are you enjoying the smell of the floor or something? Let's go."

Jerry helped me stand with a smile on his face. Autumn's face was as red as a Tarantino film set. I brushed my jeans off and laughed. "Sorry. Got deep in thought."

Jerry pat my back as he opened the front door for us. "That can happen while pressed against linoleum."

We laughed. Autumn didn't. Oh, great, I thought. The lecture was coming in like a storm cloud.

I thanked Jerry and got into the car. He walked back into the building as Autumn sat down, threw her hands into the air, grabbed the steering wheel, and glared at me.

"That look haunts me in my dreams," I said.

"Jane!"

Here it comes. The epic lecture. Wait for it. Wait for it. And....

"Do you realize what you're doing? I mean, this is Philadelphia. The city. Alone. Young girl. Pretty girl. Alone! Not to mention the price tag. Fifteen hundred a month. Really, Jane? You're gonna blow all that money your parents spent eighteen years saving and then end up moving back in with them with nothing. And"—finally she took a breath—"what in the world were you doing on the floor in there?"

I did my best Bill Cosby impression. Shaky face, pursed lips.

"I'm serious. Do you really wanna blow all of that money? Some people would kill for that kind of graduation gift."

"Oh, don't make me feel bad. I was going to wait until you left for school, but I'm giving you some of it. Donovan too."

"No." She waved her hands around. "I don't want your money, Jane. I just want you to use it wisely."

"So, apparently I have not one, not two, but
three
mother's. I'd say I'm lucky, buuuuut...."

"I know, I know."

"I'll be okay. You need to tone the responsibility dial down a few notches. If it doesn't work out within two months I'll ask Jerry if I can leave."